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The first impression I got when entering the water at Keiki on that small October day was how friendly the locals were (well maybe the really first impression was the warm water temp). For my first session ever in Oahu I was stunned to get invitations into some waves, as well as hoots and cheering upon good riding, and they were given by dark eyed tattooed hawaiians. As a matter of facts, I encountered no problem at all during the month I spent in Hawaii bodyboarding, bodysurfing and longboarding. A few drop ins (maybe less than ten in total, most of them in one session at Hanalei point where two riders per wave is pretty much standard) and that was it. As a bodyboarder I was expecting much worse. Moreover the atmosphere at overcrowded breaks like Off The Wall, Rocky Point or Pipeline was competitive but respectful, and at many occasions simply mellow and friendly elsewhere. Of course it was early in the season and I was out mainly at dawn for the first hours of light, thus avoiding bigger crowds, but this made me think twice about Hawaii heavy localism reputation. As locals rightfully say, most of the bad vibes are not originally coming from hawaiians, but are imported by disrespectful visitors, leading locals to organize themselves to protect their waves. I definitely checked that myself. If it does not come to you naturally, force yourself and give the locals the respect they legitimately deserve. And generally respect does come naturally
since local talent is truly insane. This is an evidence for everyone I
guess, but that came to me as a shock. Everyone is ripping, from the 6yo
grom on his toothpick to the 70yo cruising in 6' surf on his 9'0 gun. I
was watching the show with delight, those guys know what they are doing.
Sure, they have been doing it for their whole lives! What at treat to be
sitting in the channel at Pipe watching Mark Healey pulling in and then
Tamayo Perry milking the next wave while Jeff Hubbard flies his way down
through backdoor. But as I said talent is not limited to the pros and alike.
Anonymous spongers pulling reverse airs at Off The Wall, kamikaze bodysurfers
at Sandy's showing so much confidence riding what is maybe the most powerful
wave I have ever ridden, graceful
Aloha. This is not only a gimmick or a
marketing remain of what used to be a long time ago, as I thought it was.
It truly exists and can be felt in various places and circumstances. Aloha
is any waverider getting to ask you in the line up where you're from and
what you're up to, then trading waves
The ocean is a social place in Hawaii more than everywhere I have been, you can tell surfing is a part of hawaiian lives for decades. People meet at the line up, for instance after work hours, a bit like in the pubs except for the salty taste of the drinks. There are shifts between the dawn patrollers leaving for work or school, the pros waiting for good lighting to be shot by photographers, the red eyed late morning guys, the sunset glassy addicts... Those shifts keep the water population high throughout the day, since there is no tide and trade winds are pretty much off shore all day, you can just hit the beach any time and surf if there is enough swell. Sometimes there can be too much swell though.
Pacific raw power can be felt on about every spot on a daily basis when
a swell is on, but on occasions it can turn into true nature fury. What
struck me is the difference of size between the waves and the odd sets.
On a 6 foot day, which is solid by my standards, you can expect to get
10 foot mackers coming in. That happened to me at a place in Kauai. A new
swell was on the rise, and I got caught inside for 10 or 15 waves, each
of them breaking further away from me and another surfer sharing my fate.
We were sitting on our boards, nervously laughing at
As a consequence fear was inherent to the
bigger surf conditions. I came to Hawaii with apprehension, I was sometimes
out with varying degrees of fear, and for a few minutes I almost panic
when I first saw one big set hitting Laniakea on that day. The feeling
lasted until I took off on one wave, which instantly made it go away. Fear
is good at keeping you focused and alert to what is happening, pretty much
telling you where your limits are. One day my wife spotted a swimmer in
difficulty at Off The Wall. By the time the lifeguard assessed the situation
and finally put his fins on to go grab him, the guy was drown. I don't
know what that guy thought before going out there in wild 8' surf without
a board or fins, but a little bit more of fear might have been useful to
stop him. Pushing yourself is a tricky thing, especially
I had many good sessions during my stay, and I can't get to tell you about them all. Here is a selection of the ones I will definitely remember. There is my first session in "sizable"
surf at Rocky point. I woke up early morning, did my usual yoga routine,
swallowed a couple of bananas and went to check the Pipe/Off The Wall area.
I had been there for a couple of days during which the surf had been small,
but that morning there was a little
Next morning I met with Neal at Pipe for some 2 to 4' action at Backdoor. That session was special because that was the first time I was actually meeting with Neal IRL. The surf was ok - way more than ok by my standards in fact- I got a couple of small barrels on Backdoor, and I was introduced by Neal to some locals in the line up, including Tamayo Perry! I was stoked once again, and this was just the beginning. Forecasts freaked me out the following
night, since they were calling it 10' for the next day. I was not sure
I could handle that size in Hawaiian conditions, since that was pretty
much the biggest surf I had ever been in, add to that the Hawaiian power
and the mean reefs... Our rental house was on Pupukea hills, over Waimea
bay, and that night I did not sleep that well, I could hear the surf breaking
in the bay like 2 miles away! I woke up at 4:30 to the sound of the breaking
waves, my body anticipated for the action and did not allow me to sleep
anymore. I met with Neal very early at Ehukai beach park as planned (I
actually wondered when Neal sleeps). At 5:15 it is so dark you can only
tell if it is breaking or not, and that day Pipe was not breaking, at least
not big enough. At 5:30 we were checking Laniakea.
Some guys on guns took control of the outside
peak and at about the same time, freak sets came, breaking far outside.
Those were the biggest waves I had ever seen while surfing, a good 4xOH
for the biggest ones. However, the conditions were very clean and you could
see the sets coming from far away, which limited the surprise and allow
for proper positioning. But man, was I thrilled! It was like I was at a
movie, it just did not look real, like in a dream. I did not get any of
those bigger sets, there were maybe less than 10 of them during the 3 hours
we were out, and they were breaking so far out
The swell was on the decline and 2 days
after that big session I was out at Off The Wall at dawn. That day Off
The Wall was a bodyboarding only spot. There were like 30 stand ups out
at backdoor, and about 15 bodyboarders at Off The Wall. Quite funny when
you consider that the waves were pretty
Another session that remains printed in
my memory is the one with Bud and Rich at Jockos. A new swell was due to
hit during the night and while we were enjoying the sunset at Waimea I
could spot some forerunners, indicating that it was indeed on its way.
I met up with Bud and Rich before dawn at
The following morning I hit Pipeline at dawn with Neal. That was a bit frightening since I could not see the waves and I knew it was bigger than anything I had surfed there, but well I just went for it without asking myself further questions. Neal and I took a dive in the river-like current, once again the first ones to hit the water. Neal got the first wave at Pipe that morning, a clean peak he followed all the way to the inside. I was a bit nervous and had a hard time to position myself with the constant arrival of bodyboarders and surfers in the lineup, the bigger sets were 5 to 6', and I was doing what I could to get some. I did score 7 or 8 waves in less than an hour, all at Pipeline, which I was happy with. Backdoor was working nicely too but there was always either Mark Healey or Jamie O'Brien paddling deeper... Talking about a competitive lineup! At one moment I saw Neal shaking hands with a bodyboarder whose face was familiar to me, wait a minute, this is Brian Wise! Then Neal introduced him to me, stoked! He was leashless, very relaxed. We exchanged a few words in french before a set came (Brian spent some time in Tahiti) and he took off, he was of course very deep. I took off on the next one, a nice long Pipeline perfection I rode in the hook pretty much all the way to gums. No spit on that one, but it remains as my best wave ever at Pipeline. That was time to leave, it was Sunday morning and at 6:45 there was like 40 guys out already. We met with Bud on the shore and went for
what we hoped to be a less crowded session at Rocky point. The conditions
were pristine by the time we got there. Sun was now out shining, wind was
dead, and there was almost no one out! Let's go! Sure we had a hard time
to make it out, sure the waves were mainly closing out at Rocky rights,
but some of the sets were just damn near perfect. Powerful and shallow,
the kind of waves that shake you and your board when duck diving them.
The kind of waves that have you shivering with anticipating pleasure when
spinning to paddle into them. On one wave I saw Bud paddling for a mean
wall and just going with the lip, boom! Then having a hell of a pain to
make it back out again. That was why we were so few out there. Later on
he hurt himself, dinging his board with his knee and face and making it
back in. I scored several excellent long grinding rights, one
Despite the great surf I scored in Oahu, my best session took place in Kauai. We had been there for a couple of days, surf had been inconsistent, and a new swell was due to hit late during that day. Checking the ocean from Hanalei bay that afternoon I knew the swell was right there and now, in front of me. I took my car and drove to a place I checked the day before, having made the promise to hit it again on a bigger swell. Oh boy how beautiful that was! Sizey, in the 6' range, mainly long lefts barreling down the reef, as well as a few shorter powerful rights. I was on it! There was less than 10 guys out, and I sat on the shoulder as I usually do at spots I surf for the first time. It was gorgeous, actually hard to say what was looking better, the waves or the amazing rain forest backdrop. And some guys were doing really good, pulling into round barrels for quite some time, making some, eating some. Wow! I took a couple of wide ones, coming right at me, some long, clean waves, but not as powerful nor hollow as the one breaking on the outside corner. Those were the ones to favor, obviously, breaking on a shallower portion of the reef and reeling for one hundred yards, sometimes more. Of course this is where everyone was sitting, since the rights were breaking from there too. The swell was building and sets kept on coming frequently. I managed to get one very good wave at that sweet spot when everyone was paddling back out, then another, and then I was part of the lineup. The mood was relaxed, some surfers talking
to each other, smiling, I felt well. I guess everyone was feeling well.
I had several very good rides, and at one point I was even invited into
some waves as some guys were now leaving the water. I was the only bodyboarder
but it made no difference to them, at least they were nice enough not to
show it. One set lined up nicely, getting closer to us, I was well positioned
but one guy was sitting deeper than me, he asked me if I wanted it and
I said 'Sure!' while spinning around. That was one of the most perfect
wave I have ever surfed, or seen for that matter. The type of wave you
drawn on your notebooks as a kid. I got slotted right after bottom turning,
for what sounded like forever. I had enough time to visually explore the
barrel, above me, on the sides, ..., that was really crazy! I got out,
did a clean full speed cut back and that was it. Then I noticed that guy
right next to me, paddling back out. "Great wave brah!" he said to me,
"But look ahead!" As I turned around, I saw a bigger one about to come
break in front of us. Then the two of us were caught inside for the whole
set, about 10 waves I guess. Those waves turned into beasts as they broke
over the ledge, wedging up, doubling up, almost drying up the reef at some
spots, I was very cautious not to get sucked out there, not sure if I would
be able to handle such a beating. Sick. Then it stopped, and we made it
back out, I was relieved. Then another similar scary looking set came,
I would say it was close to 8', but this time we were out there,
the surfer and I. In fact we were the only ones who made it, the rest of
the lineup just got washed back in. So there we were, the two of us, now
smiling and considering the situation with unhidden pleasure. The sun was
setting but I had time to catch a few more lefts, again with good barrels.
My companion was doing good too, getting shacked with a powerful yet graceful
style. Then that psycho right came, jacking up monstrously right in front
of me. The guy shouted a loud "Go! Go! Go!", and there I went. That right
was the hollowest wave I saw during my stay, just one huge round bowling
barrel with a hell of a thick lip. I took off, got shacked into that
As you certainly know, a young surfer girl,
Bethany Hamilton, was attacked by a tiger shark while surfing a spot west
of Hanalei. She lost her arm but made it thanks to the friends she was
surfing with that day. Later a shark was spotted several times in the same
area. A couple of times the lifeguards
Then it was time to leave. Now that we are back home I miss Hawaii a lot, my wife and son miss Hawaii a lot. I guess we will be back. @lex - posted to alt.surfing on 2003-11-26.
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